


Seasons

by CharmingProcrastinator



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017), daredevil - Fandom
Genre: Divorced Frank, F/M, Fluff (your teeth will rot), Frank Castle/Karen Page - Freeform, Frank POV, I just needed someone to break Karen’s heart), Karen Page/ Matt Murdock (past), Matt Murdock /Elektra Nachios (background), Mild Matt bashing (no real hate, Misunderstandings (If those two fools actually talked things out, Mutual Pining, Neighbors AU, Rom-com, but then it wouldnt’t be a romcom) Karen POV, kastle - Freeform, this fic would have been shorter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 14:15:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmingProcrastinator/pseuds/CharmingProcrastinator
Summary: Karen had come back after a week away for a Women in Media conference in Chicago to find that Mrs. Sterner’s name on the mailbox next to hers had been replaced by an “F. Castle”, who evidently moved in while she was away. To her, he was only disembodied grunts and moans. They were bound to bump into each other, eventually. She had no idea how she was gonna manage to act like a normal human being when they did and not make a quip about maybe considering gagging his gaggle of girls, or make some passive aggressive request that he keep it down a bit when others were trying to sleep.





	1. Spring

**Author's Note:**

> Baby's very first fic! Merry (belated) Christmas, @frank-kastle!
> 
> This is a shameless fluffy RomCom that has been lingering in my mind for a while now, inspired by this little thing I saw months ago on Tumblr:  
> http://nxbodygoesafterher.tumblr.com/post/166486967315/kastle-au-karen-pages-new-neighbor-is
> 
> When I was told my Secret Santa giftee wished for a Kastle Neighbors AU, it felt like kismet! I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Rated Mature for everyone’s potty mouth and for adults with adult desires having adult  
> conversations.

Karen was only starting to relax, only starting to feel the magical effect of her lavender bubble bath and glass (okay, maybe her third glass) of Chardonnay when it started. Again.

“Oh yeah, yeah, right there – ungh… oh! Oh! OH!!!!”

Karen groaned as her neighbor’s conquest du jour did her best impression of a porn star while presumably having an earth shattering orgasm, her screams of ecstasy punctuated by her partner’s loud grunts. This was not the soundtrack she had in mind when she set out to decompress after one - no, make that TWO - spectacularly shitty weeks. But why should tonight have been different, really? The Lothario next door had been entertaining what very much sounded like a new lady just about every other night since he moved in a few weeks ago. Very LOUD ladies, who were apparently very happy with neighbor guy’s prowess.

Now Karen was no prude. Under normal circumstances, she might have found this very amusing, if a little annoying. She might have thought, “Hey, good for you, guy next door!” But in light of her recent heartbreak (nope, nope, nope, she was NOT going to think about Matt-Lying-Liar-Who-Lies-Murdock, not tonight, dammit!), that had been preceded by a long dry spell which culminated by whatever you might call the feminine version of blue balls (definitely NOT gonna think about whether it was a good or a bad thing the she and Matt never got to make it further than making out on her stoop - STOP IT KAREN, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!), this just felt like another kick in the teeth from the universe.

She took a breath and sunk into the bath, submerging her head. So quiet here. So peaceful. Too bad she couldn’t just sleep under the water. She emerged, and downed the rest of her wine. Guess she’d have to go to bed with her headphones on. Romeo next door never did seem to let his flavor of the night leave without sampling the goods at least twice.

As she got ready for bed, Karen mused that she still hadn’t managed to see the guy. She had come back after a week away for a Women in Media conference in Chicago to find that Mrs. Sterner’s name on the mailbox next to hers had been replaced by an “F. Castle”, who evidently moved in while she was away. To her, he was only disembodied grunts and moans. They were bound to bump into each other, eventually. She had no idea how she was gonna manage to act like normal human being when they did and not make a quip about maybe considering gagging his gaggle of girls, or make some passive aggressive request that he keep it down a bit when others were trying to sleep.

Right on cue, as she turned off the light, the lovers next door started up again. Karen, with a sound that was half laugh, half sob, grabbed her phone and her earbuds, and set out to try falling asleep to the sweet sounds of her favourite Spotify acoustic mix.

 

 

Less than a week after her aborted Friday night attempt at relaxation, it seemed that F. Castle’s lucky streak ended. There were still banging sounds coming from next door, but they were of the “nailing frames into the wall” and “building furniture” variety of banging, instead of the “nailing chicks against the wall” and “defiling furniture” kind of banging. This was a welcome change, to say the least, especially since this was done during normal, waking hours.

And a few days after THAT, Karen finally got to meet F. Castle.

                                                      

 

Frank liked his new apartment. Maria wasn’t too thrilled he’d chosen a place in Hell’s Kitchen, worrying it wasn’t such a great place for the kids to go on their weekends with him, but it was a stone throw away from Central Park, made it possible for him to walk to work more often than not, and in the end, Lisa and Frankie were excited at the prospect of leaving their quiet suburban neighborhood for the bustle of the city every other weekend.

He also had been lucky enough to land on a building with no unsavory characters (as far as he could tell, though Christ knew you could never truly know). He was a bit puzzled about the guy next door in 4C, who gave him a thumbs up while wagging his eyebrows at him the first time they crossed path in the hallway (what the hell was that about?), but other than that, everything was pretty great.

Moving in had been a bit of an ordeal, as the move coincided with a gig out of town he’d accepted from Anvil (two weeks on a protective detail in Bali for some heiress… It was exactly the kind of assignment he hated, but Billy had made him such a generous offer, and he was in need of some funds to furnish his new place). Luckily, Bill had his back and agreed to supervise the movers for him while he was away (being the head of Anvil meant that Billy Russo needed to stay in New York to run things rather than go play bodyguard for some rich party girl while wearing a goddamned suit in 90 degrees heat, you see); he even took the time to assemble Frank’s bed for him – a nice if unexpected gesture.

And here Frank was, a few weeks later, having finished setting everything up in time for his weekend with the kids. They were all exiting his apartment on their way to Central Park, just as his neighbor in 4E was arriving at her door, giving him a chance to meet her for the first time.

Said neighbor did a bit a double take when she noticed him; then her eyes went from the kids to him, then again from the kids to him. Then she gave him a polite smile (holy mother of God was that woman gorgeous) and said “F. Castle?”

Frank chuckled “Yeah, yeah that’s me. It’s Frank, by the way”

“Karen. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Uh, yeah, you too.”

“C’mon Dad!” called Frankie, from the stairwell.

“Uh, yeah, sorry kids, gimme a minute” he replied before turning to Karen. “Hey, if the kids ever get too noisy when they’re here, just let me know, okay?” Karen raised an eyebrow at him, prompting him to elaborate “Uh, they’re used to living in a house, you know, not sharing walls with neighbors and having to tone things down a bit,” he babbled (what the hell? Frank Castle didn’t babble, dammit. Not even in front of beautiful tall blond Amazons like Karen).

Karen chuckled, “I’m sure they’ll be okay”. Then she seemed to steel herself before looking him straight in the eyes “They can’t possibly be louder than the company their dad keeps when they’re away.”

“What?”

“You know… Listen, hey, it’s a free country and all that, but maybe you could ask your lady friends to try to reign in their… enthusiasm a bit. Some of us like our sleep”, Karen replied in a hush tone.

Frank had no idea what she was talking about. He knew even less what on earth possessed him to smile and reply “Jealous, Ma’am?”

“What? You wish!” she answered, her pale cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. There was a bit a twinkle in her eye though, so he could tell she was at least a bit amused by his flirting. God, he was flirting. He’d forgotten he even knew how.

“Daaaad!” called Frankie and Lisa in unison.

“Well, I gotta go…But I’ll try to keep it down, Ma’am.”

“It’s Karen. And, uh, thanks, I guess. Have a good one.”

“You too. Ma’am.”

With a roll of her eyes at that, she made her way into her apartment, and he made his way outside of the building, still scratching his head about what his neighbor had said to him… And then, it hit him. Cursing under his breath, Frank reached into his pocket for his phone and fired a text to Billy.

Hey man. Did you use my apartment while I was in Bali?

_Define use?_

Did you bring women back to my apartment, asshole?

_Let’s just say your place is awfully well located._

Great. Now my neighbor thinks I’m a manwhore.

_Worse things to be, Frankie Boy_

 Goddammit, Bill

_See ya at work. And don’t worry, I washed the sheets before you came back to town._

Well that explained why Billy Fucking Russo had oh so generously assembled his bed, not to mention the admiring thumbs up from the other neighbor. With a sigh, Frank put away his phone, determined to focus all his attention on his kids for the time being.

 

 

Karen closed the door behind her, her legs feeling a little shaky. She felt something akin to butterflies in her stomach. And both of those facts made her thoroughly annoyed with herself. F. Castle ( _It’s Frank, by the way_ ) was at once exactly what she expected, and nothing like what she expected. He was not an Adonis by any conventional standards, but he was still somewhat ridiculously attractive, in a rugged sort of way. He just… exuded maleness, for a lack of a better term, all muscle (she guessed, he had been wearing a jacket, but she could just tell, somehow), dark eyes and bearded glory.

“God, I’m so pathetic” she sighed as she kicked off her shoes and made her way to the kitchen to put some coffee on. She’d been mildly surprised to see him at all, more surprised by his appearance, and completely floored by the fact that he had kids with him. And then he had to go and surprise her some more by being so damn charming, even when she brought up the uncomfortable subject of his nightly activities. She just… couldn’t be mad at him, for some reason, which only made her mad at herself, because obviously, this guy was some sort of Casanova, and even knowing that, when he’d flirted with her ( _Jealous, Ma’am?_ ), she had gotten all flustered, like a stupid teenager.

As if Karen was not already overwhelmed enough by this sea of conflicting emotions, her phone started ringing, caller ID confirming that it was Matt, again.

She pressed ignored, longing for the days where you could physically hang up a phone. That would have been so satisfying. As she booted up her laptop, she thought about how different her spring had turned out to be compared to what she had imagined it would be _before_ … before the conference, before coming back, before _her_. She had imagined ridiculous romantic walks in the park, arm in arm with Matt, describing to him how pretty the trees were, all in bloom. She had pictured…

Her phone rang again, she pressed Ignore again, and considered not for the first time blocking his number, and once more deciding against it. They did have a best friend in common, after all. Poor Foggy, stuck in the middle. It was best to let the dust settle down before resorting to such a drastic measure.

For the time being, she compromised by turning off her phone. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee, sat down at her computer, resolving to focus on her article and forget all about cheating exes and tall, dark and handsome neighbors.

 

                                                            

 

Frank climbed the stairs to his apartment and was nearly on his floor when he heard the voices of a couple arguing in the hallway. Normally, he wouldn’t give a shit, people shouldn’t have private discussions in public if they didn’t want to be interrupted by people going about their own business, but the female voice involved in the heated conversation made him pause a few steps from the landing. Karen. Karen, the impossibly attractive woman next door, who thought he was an unrepentant ladies’ man. They had bumped into one another a few times over the last weeks, in the hallway, at the mailboxes, in the laundry room. She always gave him a polite smile, and a bit a wide berth. Frank would have loved to explain to her that he wasn’t what she thought he was, but what an awkward subject to bring up.  “Hey, Ma’am, I’m not a manwhore, that was my buddy, using may place without my permission. Wanna grab dinner with me? “

Yeah, no, that wasn’t gonna work. So he had resolve to keep admiring her from afar for the moment being.

But now, he found he might need to step up and get in her business a bit. Cause she was arguing with some asshole who didn’t seem to want to leave her alone.

“Please Karen, I don’t want to have this discussion in your hallway. Can’t we just go inside to talk, just a few minutes, I…”

“Well tough shit, Matt, because I don’t want to be having this discussion at all, which you should have guessed when I didn’t answer your goddamned phone calls.”

“I just want to tell you how sorry I am, okay? I didn’t plan on hurting you. I –“

“But that’s just it Matt, you did hurt me. You humiliated me. We were friends, we could have stayed friends, but it was you who pushed for more, and then I come back from my conference and I find you…”

Karen’s voice broke. Frank was staying hidden in the stairwell, not wanting to embarrass her by just showing up while she was upset and potentially vulnerable.

“I’m so sorry, Kar.”

“Look Matt, just go, okay? It’s over. I’m not gonna put Foggy in the middle of this and make him choose between you or me, or anything childish like that, but you and me, we’re done, okay? So go.”

“I can’t accept that, Karen, if you’d just give me a chance…”

“No! Now please, just leave!”

“Not yet, not until –“

Well, that was it, Frank was not gonna let some guy harass any woman after she’d told him on no uncertain terms to leave her alone. He stepped in to the hallway and announced himself:

“This guy givin’ you trouble, Ma’am?”

Karen and the guy both turned to him at once, which is when Frank realized that the asshole who couldn’t take a hint was blind. Well, no matter, a harasser was a harasser, blind or not. He’d have no problem escorting this one out of the building if he had to.

“Uh, no” Karen replied after a beat. “Matt was just leaving. Weren’t you?”

 _Matt_ seemed to deflate at that.

“I’m going, but… I hope you’ll change your mind, eventually. You are important to me, no matter what you believe.”

“Well then respect my wishes by staying the hell away from me.”

Matt hung his head, sighed, and then started making his way to the stairwell, Frank keeping his eyes on him the whole time, making sure he really was leaving.

When he was out of sight, Frank turned to his neighbor, who looked so impossibly sad.

“Are you gonna be okay? Could he come back to cause you more trouble?”

Karen let out a watery laugh.

“No, no need to worry about anything like that. He’s a jerk, but not the kind of jerk you need to take a restraining order against. He just… wants me to forgive him faster than he has any right to, and…”

She stopped abruptly, a look of pure embarrassment on her face.

“Sorry, you don’t need to hear about my personal drama. Have a goodnight, Frank.”

And with that, she disappeared behind her door before he even had a chance to wish her a goodnight too.

 

Karen leaned her forehead against her door, not sure whether she wanted to cry or to scream. She’d cried enough, and screaming was not going to stop her cheeks from burning as hot as they were from embarrassing herself like that in front of Frank.

Ugh. She grabbed a beer from the fridge. Tonight, she’d let herself wallow for the very last time, she resolved. Starting tomorrow, she was going to focus entirely on her work. She had an article idea she had been thinking about pitching to Ellison, but she had hesitated, knowing that the research on Union Allied alone would be time consuming enough to constitute a full time job, on top of her already covering the crime beat full time. Well, not matter now, she’d pitch her article and keep up with New York’s criminal world at the same time, even if that meant working 60 hours a week.

She’d focus on her work until she was over this, and that was that. All work and no play would make Karen a very overMattMurdock girl.

She finished her beer, opened another, grabbed a pint of ice cream, put on the Ex-Wives Club on her laptop and started in on her final wallow.


	2. Summer

“You need to get laid. You know how it goes, the best way to get over one guy is to get under a new one” proclaimed Jessica.

Karen nearly snorted her margarita through her nose. The best outcome from the Women in the Media conference she had attended in the spring was the friendship she had formed with Trish Walker, and soon after, with Jessica Jones. Trish had insisted on buying Karen a drink after the latter had saved her from going on stage for a panel with a rather large piece of toilet paper stuck to her shoe. Karen had just done what any decent human being would have done, but Trish, as a former teen actress turned radio personality who had grown up under the scrutiny of gossip rags and the paparazzi, was very image conscious, and therefore very grateful for Karen’s intervention.

The drink in question had turned into two, then three, and then they had exchanged numbers, vowing to get together again when they were back New York. If Karen was honest, she hadn’t expected to ever hear from Trish again after that. Trish was a big name in the media, Karen was just one level above a rookie. Tipsy promises, no matter how heartfelt they were at the time they were made, could not be counted on, in her experience. But Karen had been pleasantly surprised to be invited by Trish to attend a house party she was throwing, which is where she also got to know Trish’s foster sister and best friend, the ever brutally honest Jessica.

Summer hit, and Karen now had two girlfriends, which was awesome. She hadn’t realized how starved she was for female company until these two became a fixture in her life.

“Well, thanks for the advice, Jess, but I don’t need to get under anyone to get over Matt. I am over him.” Karen responded, stepping out on her fire escape and gesturing for Trish to pass her the pitcher of margarita.

Trish and Jessica followed her in the hot July night air, and they all sat on the fire escape to enjoy the summer night. During the day, the city could be unbearably hot and humid, but Karen adored this weather at night. There was something so nice about being outside after dark in nothing but your summer clothes and still be perfectly warm, without sweating like crazy or getting sunburned. It was a bit like relaxing in warm bath.

“Sure you are over him. That’s why you need us to come with you to Boggy’s birthday thing.”

“Foggy”, Karen corrected. “And that’s not because I’m not over Matt. It’s because I’m still not on speaking terms with him AND he’s bringing his girlfriend, and that’s just… going to be awkward. So it would be great to have more than just Foggy and Marci to speak to. Plus it’s about time you met Foggy. You’ll love him, everyone does”.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much” replied Trish. “But ok, so you’re over this Matt guy, great!  Jessica is still right though, you do need to get laid”

“Uh, I’m not disagreeing, here, it’s just… I don’t know how to go about it…”

“Did you skip Sex Ed in school, or something?” deadpanned Jessica.

“You know that’s not what I mean”, replied Karen with chuckle, before getting serious. “Everyone is doing the online thing now, and well… That’s not for me, I guess? I’m a female reporter who covers the crime beat and exposes corruption… I get death threats and rape threats almost daily over the Internet…The last thing I need is to sign up for some app where dudes send me dick pics, you know?”

Trish nodded in sympathy. “I get it, I do… But you still have to put yourself out there, somehow.”

Karen looked down into her drink. “I know, I’m just… Trust doesn’t come easy for me. I don’t need to be in love with a guy to get in bed with him, but I have to know I’m safe, or I can’t enjoy myself.”

“Hey, what about that hot neighbor of yours?” Trish said.

Karen blushed. “What about him?”

“You’re not exactly hard on the eyes, Karen. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have to do much more than bat your eyes at him to get him interested… And judging by what you said you heard through the walls, I’m sure he’d know how to show you a good time”, the blond giggled.

“Ah, yeah, how would that work exactly? I just go knock on his door and ask him, _Hey Frank, fancy a fuck_?”

“Yes” said Jessica, dead serious. “Exactly like that. Don’t flirt, just say what you want. It’s what I’d do.”

Karen took a big gulp of her margarita “I envy you, you know. I wish I had it in me to be as blunt as that. But even if I did, Frank is my neighbor. I’d have to see him often after that, and that would be weird, you know? And, yeah, he has been way more discreet since I talked to him about it, but maybe I’d hear the other women he brings home sometimes, after that, and that would just… I’m just not wired that way, I guess, not the kind of person who could be just fuck buddies with someone, never mind the guy next door,” she babbled.

The truth was, she had thought about Frank, a lot. As spring had made way for summer, she had gotten to see him gradually lose layers of clothing, from jacket to Henley, from Henley to T-shirt. He was… mouthwatering to say the least. She hadn’t known how shallow she could be until she started obsessing over her neighbor’s arms, his torso, his butt… his everything, really.

“Well, then I guess you better stock up on batteries for your vibrator.” Jess said, before chugging the rest of her drink.

“Oh please”, Karen replied. “I’ll have you know mine is high end stuff. The kind that comes with its own charger.”

Trish nearly spitted out her drink, which set all three women laughing.

“Ok, ok. Subject closed for now. But yes, we will go to Foggy’s birthday bash with you to run interference, won’t we Jess?”

“Yeah, sure. But I’m not singing.”

“Yes you are. It’s karaoke, you can’t not sing,”

“Watch me.”

Karen smiled as Trish and Jess kept on bickering. This was a good night. She had the summer heat, margaritas and two good friends. What more could she possibly ask for?

 

 

 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I’m telling you, this is just what you need. Help me out here, Curt!”

“I think Bill has a point here, Frank. You should give it a shot”.

Frank sighed, and admitted defeat. Guess he was going to a karaoke bar. To pick up women, who didn’t want to be picked up? That didn’t sound right.

“Explain to me the logic behind this whole thing again?” he gruffed.

Now it was Billy’s turn to sigh.

“You don’t want to try online dating. You hate clubs and you don’t like approaching women in bars. You work in a field where the workforce is like, 90 % dudes. But it’s time for you to put yourself out there. Your ex-wife is getting married again, it’s time you actively moved on too!”

“Still not understanding how karaoke fits into all this. A karaoke bar is still just like any other bar.”  

“Ah, little grasshopper, it is not! Look, the people that go there usually go with a group of friends. They’re out to have a good time, not to find someone to hook up with, so it removes a lot of that pressure you don’t like. You get out there, you sing. You see a woman you like, compliment her on her singing, and if she’s open to talk to you, then you offer to buy her a drink, maybe ask her to sing a duet later…” Bill explained.

Frank was still very dubious.

“If nothing else, it’s something new to try,” Curtis interjected. “Plus don’t you want to hear Bill sing? I really want to hear Bill sing. Or watch people's reaction to Bill’s singing.”

Billy narrowed his eyes, but refused to take the bait.

“Do I have to sing?” Frank asked.

“Yes!” replied Curtis and Bill.

“Look man, if the goal is to give you a relaxed atmosphere where you can potentially meet someone, you can’t be the surly guy in the corner that just looks at everyone else singing, though I’m sure you’d be very good at that”, explained Curtis.

“You know, all I wanted to do tonight is watch the game over a couple of beers...”

“Yup. But the game is over now, and we’re doing this,” Bill said, pushing open the bar’s door and gesturing for Curtis and Frank to enter first.

 

The place was moderately packed, but they managed to grab a small table. There were song catalogs on the tables, and a waitress came to take their drink order. Frank perused the catalog before deciding to go straight to his comfort zone. Can’t go wrong with the Boss.

Bill refused to tell them what he’d picked. Curtis declared he was going to show them how it’s done, and selected a Marvin Gaye mega classic.

Bill got up to bring their song selections to the emcee. When he came back, he lifted his chin to point out a direction:

“At my 5 o’clock… Isn’t that the chick on all those bus signs? Trish Walker, or something?”

Frank and Curtis turned to look.

“Yeah, I think that’s her,” Curtis confirmed, a rare bit of awe in his voice.

Frank was about to turn back around when he recognized another familiar blond, next to the famous one.

Karen. Frank took a sip from his beer, then looked back at his neighbor’s table again. She was with a fairly large group, composed of a whole bunch a very attractive women (though none prettier than her, in his book), and two goofy looking fellows and… that guy from the hallway, all those months ago. Who had his arm around the shoulders of a beautiful brunette. Ouch. Frank noticed that Karen and hallway guy were sitting at opposite ends of the table. Unsurprisingly.

“Frank, stop staring at the B celebrity,” Bill called out.

“I’m not… It’s just… My neighbor is at that table…”

“Which neighbor? THE neighbor?” Curtis asked, having being told before of the story of Bill’s exploits putting Frank in semi hot water with the gorgeous woman next door.

Frank nodded.

“Which one is she?” Bill asked keenly.

Before Frank could reply, the emcee announced a name, and Karen’s table erupted in hoots and howlers as one of the goofy guys got up to make his way to the stage.

The music started, and the guy delivered a rather entertaining performance of Come On Eileen. At some point, he replaced the name Eileen with the name Marci, which set his tablemates cheering, and one of the blonds hiding her face behind her hands.

Frank smiled. Maybe this would be fun after all. People really did seem to be only concerned with having a good time. He tried to peek discretely at Karen again, and caught sight of her smiling. A real smile, not the polite one she gave him when they crossed path in their building. He really wanted to earn himself a smile like that.

He turned back to Curtis and Bill, determined to make the most of this. The night wore on, and Bill would elbow him every time a pretty woman would take the stage. Frank mostly ignored him, his mind constantly going back to his neighbor, all happy and relaxed a few tables over. He wondered if he had missed her taking the stage.

He drained his beer. Tonight was the night, he told himself, resolved to get a chance to talk to her. See if this karaoke bar thing could really work out in his favor after all.

 

After a few of Karen’s tablemates got up to sing, and Billy did something so very Billy by singing the Thong Song, (which was… a hit? Given how a lot of the ladies in the place looked Russo’s way, Frank highly doubted his friend was going home alone tonight. Probably more because of Billy’s baby face good looks than his song selection, though), he spotted Karen getting up to head to the bar.

“I’m gonna need something stronger than beer if I’m gonna sing,” he told the guys, getting up. “Be right back.”

He made his way to the bar, where Karen was ordering beer pitchers for her table.

“Evening Ma’am.”

Karen turned, surprise quickly followed by recognition on her face.

“Hey Frank! Pretty far from our neighborhood.”

“I could say the same to you. I didn’t exactly pick this place, my buddies made me come here.”

“First karaoke?”

Frank nodded.

“Are you going to sing?”

“Unfortunately.”

That made her laugh, genuinely. Her blue eyes sparkled when she did. Jesus. He barely knew the woman, and he was already a goner for her.

“So… I noticed your ex is at your table. Must be awkward,” he said.

She looked down, a bit embarrassed.

“Uh, you know. We have friends in common. This is a birthday party…”

He ordered a whisky from the bartender, then turned to the blushing blond.

“Just so you know, I’m sending you a drink,” he announced.

That took her by surprise.

“I already have a drink,” she replied, gesturing to the bartender, who was filling a pitcher with beer, but her tone was teasing. Not a flat out rejection, then.

“I know. But your ex is here, at your table, with his new girl, and someone really should send you a drink. Shake him up a bit.”

“Ok, sure, but Matt is… you know. How would he even know?”

“Oh trust me. He’ll know. Plenty of people around that table to make sure he knows.”

That made her laugh again.

“So what’s your poison?”

“Actually, that looks pretty good,” she said, pointing at the whisky the bartender brought him at the same time as he brought her pitchers of beer.

Before he could add anything else, the emcee called her name.

“Oh, that’s me! Wish me luck,” she said, grabbing her pitchers. He watched her stop by her table to deposit them, then make her way to the stage, with the rambunctious encouragements of her friends.

As she took the mic, some guitar strings started to play and then he recognized the unmistakable violin riff of The Waterboys’ _Fisherman Blues_.

 

_I wish I was a fisherman_

_Tumblin’ on the seas_

_Faraway from dry land_

_And its bitter memories_

 

Watching her, listening to her, Frank felt his heart skip a few beats. Up there, with the lights of the stage like a halo around her blond hair, her light summer dress swishing where it ended a bit above her knees, a sweet smile on her face speaking volumes about her love of the song she was singing, she looked like goddess. Like Venus rising from the water or some shit.

 

_No ceiling bearing down on me_

_Save the starry sky above_

_With light in my hair_

_You in my arms_

 

She had a pretty good voice too, nothing too special, but she held her own, not a single false note to make the crowd cringe. In fact, Frank noticed, quickly glancing around, many patrons, both male and female, seemed to be under her spell at the moment.

Well. Depending on how you looked at it, this karaoke experience was going to be an absolute failure or a great success. Because Frank now was definitely ready and willing _to put himself out there_ , as Billy had put it. But only for her. He barely knew her, but something deep inside his bones ached for her. He took a sip of his whiskey and swore to himself this: he was going to find a way to tell her about Billy using his place. That was the place to start. Before he could even let her know he was interested, she had to know his interest in her had nothing to do with notches on his bedpost.

 

 

Karen put the mic back on the stand, grabbed hold of her dress and did a dorky little curtsy under the applause of the crowd, eliciting a laugh from her friends and a few others, which was exactly what she was after.

A quick scan of the place told her that Frank had left the bar, and returned to his table, where he was sitting with two other guys.

She had only been sitting back down for a few minutes when the waitress deposited a whiskey in front of her.

“From the guy with the beard over there,” she announced, gesturing towards Frank’s table, which of course Karen knew.

She thanked the waitress, took her glass, and glanced at Frank, who was looking at her, raising his glass in salute.

Karen lifted her glass with a smile and a nod in return.

“Someone’s got an admirer,” Trish said, a bit loudly, which made the entire table turn towards Karen, including Matt. Looks like Frank was right about that.

Maybe it was the nice buzz she had going, but the minute he had approached her at the bar, she had just felt all her animosity towards him melt away. He HAD been quieter since their first meeting after all. And he seemed like a really good dad. And he had very nice eyes. And she was a little tipsy. Basically, she decided she forgave him for being a manwhore.

“You’re not gonna believe this," she whispered to Trish and Jessica, "but that’s my neighbor.”

“Casanova?” Trish asked. Karen nodded.

“Well it looks like Casanova has you in his sight.”

Karen was about to protest that Frank had actually just bought her a drink as a bit of a fuck you to Matt, nothing more, when the emcee called the man in question’s name.

“Guess we’re gonna find out if Casanova can sing”, Jessica remarked, grabbing the beer pitcher to fill her glass.

Karen took a sip of her whiskey, watching Frank’s muscular back ripple under his t-shirt as he climbed the stairs to the stage (she felt proud of herself for not letting her eyes wander lower). Maybe the whiskey was already making its way to her head.

The music started, and then Frank started singing in a raspy baritone

 

 _Hey little girl, is your daddy home?_  
_Did he go away and leave you all alone? Mhmm_  
 _I got a bad desire_  
 _Oh oh oh, I'm on fire_

 

Multiple emotions washed over Karen. There was a kind of fondness, brought on by the knowledge that Frank was a Springsteen fan – seemed very fitting, though she hardly knew anything about the guy. Then there was a bit of cynicism colored by a faint dose of jealousy. Of course, of course, given who he was, he would chose a song about being really horny. Also very fitting, she supposed. But then (and Karen would later try to blame the alcohol coursing through her veins for this one), she was also incredibly turned on. The rumble of his voice went straight to her core, making her feel all hot and bothered. Well fuck.

“Get a grip, Karen!” she admonished herself. “So he’s hot, so what? He’s still your neighbor, and you have no room in your life for that sort of drama. Just remember, you can look, but you can’t touch.”

 _At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet_  
_And a freight train running through the middle of my head_  
 _Only you can cool my desire_  
 _Oh oh oh, I'm on fir_ e

Frank finished his song, then had the nerve to look all shy and embarrassed, the cheeky fucking sexy bastard, as he put back the mic on stand under the applause of the crowd (complete with lots of hooting from the female patrons, no surprise there).

“Well shit, Karen, how the hell have you not climbed that tree yet?” asked Jessica.

“Please Jess, don’t start!”, Karen replied, looking a bit nervously at Marci who had turned from her conversation with Foggy’s brother, Theo, to look at her with keen interest.

Karen was no fool, she knew that the breakup with Matt had been hard on Foggy. Now that Matt was officially shacked up with Elektra, she knew that Marci felt it was time for Karen to get a boyfriend too, as if that would magically heal Karen and Matt’s relationship, as if all Karen needed to forgive Matt’s betrayal was a new man.

She would have loved to point out to Marci that she didn’t need to even the score to act like an adult around Matt, especially for Foggy’s sake. When Matt and Elektra had arrived tonight, Foggy had sent a few worried looks Karen’s way, wanting to ascertain that she was okay. Karen had told him that this was his night, and he was forbidden to even give one thought to her personal drama, which she was perfectly capable of keeping in check.

She had even managed to smile when Elektra, after Matt had sung _Sweet Caroline_ , had cheekily asked whether anyone was ever going to sing a song written in the last decade. She herself had declined to sing, until Marci forcibly dragged her onstage to sing a Spice Girls song (while also roping in Trish – who shot Karen an apologetic smile, and hilariously, Theo, who looked so very lost and out of his element, but tried his best, much to Foggy’s delight.

All in all, it had been a good night. She hoped the birthday boy had been pleased. She was about to let Jessica and Trish know she was ready to call it a night, but she noticed that Trish was paying her no mind, all her attention focused of a very attractive man currently singing Marvin Gaye’s _Let’s Get It On_.

Karen was pretty sure this was one of Frank’s friends. When he finished his song, Karen was about to tell Trish she could ask Frank to introduce them to his buddy, when Trish simply got up and went to him to compliment his singing. Looks like Jessica was not the only one ballsy enough to go after what she wanted.

Karen took the last sip of her whiskey, then announced that she was going to settle her share of the tab and head home. She walked to the bar under the boos Foggy, Theo, Marci and Jessica sent her way, paying them no mind. It was passed 1 AM, she was tired, having gotten up very early to go to a press conference all that way across town earlier today.

 

“Hey, you heading home?” an increasingly familiar voice called out to her.

She turned to Frank.

“Yes, I guess I’m not as much of a party animal as the rest of my friends.”

“Wanna split a cab?” he offered.

Karen couldn’t think of any reason to say no… This made complete sense financially, and if she was stuck in a confined space with Frank for the duration of the ride, she didn’t think she was drunk enough to embarrass herself in any way.

“Yeah, sure. Let me just say my goodbyes?”

Frank nodded. “Yeah, gotta do the same. Meet you at the door in a few minutes?”

“Sounds good.”

Karen made her way back to table.

“Well I’m off! Happy birthday again Fog! Thanks for organizing this, Marci, it was a blast.”

“How are you getting home?” Jessica asked.

“Um, I’m splitting a cab with Frank. You can come with us, if you like...”

“Nah, I better wait for Trish… and if she decides to go home with Marvin Gaye over there, I can always ride with Theo, right Theo?”

Theo looked surprised, but nodded.

“Wait, who’s Frank?” Matt suddenly chimed in.

Karen sighed. They had actively avoided talking to each other all night, but now he had to go and ruin it.

“My neighbor,” she replied. She couldn’t resist adding a little dig. “You’ve met.”

Matt’s jaw ticked at that.

“Is he the one who sent you a drink? How well do you know this guy? Maybe you should wait for your friends instead of riding with some borderline stranger.”

Karen bristled at his patronizing tone and the sheer nerve of him, but took a deep breath before answering as calmly as she could.

“Thank you for your concern Matt, but I’m fully capable of taking care of myself and making my own decisions. Besides, even if he should turn out to be a creep, he’s a creep who already knows exactly where I live, so splitting a cab fare home with him changes nothing.” Then she changed tones to add a sunny “Good night everyone!”

She passed by Trish, deep in conversation with Frank’s friend. She raised an eyebrow at her, and Trish raised it right back at Karen, having noticed who was waiting for her by the door. Karen gently shook her head to indicate it wasn’t what Trish was thinking, then made her way over to Frank’s side, who pushed open the bar door for her, and then stepped out into the night air.

 

 Frank opened the cab door.

“Ma’am”, he said, motioning for Karen to get in.

She gave him an amused little eye roll.

“Karen is just fine, you know” she replied.

He climbed after her and gave the driver their address.

“Thanks for the drink, by the way.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. Did it work?”

“I guess, though not quite as well as us leaving together did.”

“Mmph. Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re a real class act, setting aside your feelings for your friend’s birthday. That can’t have been easy, and I should know, I had to do the same for the sake of my kids when my wife and I divorced,” he confided.

“Oh!” she said, looking down and pushing some of her hair behind her ear, seemingly embarrassed. “That doesn’t seem like a fair comparison. You were married and had children, a life together. Matt and I had barely begun dating, I really can’t claim to understand what you went through. Though it does feel like Matt and I do have shared custody of Foggy,” she joked, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

Frank couldn’t resist.

“So why are you so mad at him? You really seemed brokenhearted that night, you know, in the hallway?”

“Oh. Uh, I was. Guess there’s no point in denying it. I felt like a discarded piece of trash,” she sighed. After a beat, she explained.

“Matt and I were friends first. Good friends. I met him and Foggy when I first arrived in New York and temped at their law firm. We all got along so well, and they were happy with my work, so they offered me the office manager job fulltime. Matt and I, we may have flirted a bit, but we were friends and coworkers first, and I was not willing to jeopardize that because I had a bit of a crush on him. But then, I got my dream job at the Bulletin, and had to quit Nelson & Murdock. This was not an issue, the guys knew I only ever took the job at the firm to pay the bills until I could get a job as a reporter. Anyway, one night, Matt walked me home after my “going away” party or whatever, and he asked me out, and… I wanted to say yes, but I was still afraid it might change our friendship, you know? That Three Musketeers dynamic we had going with Foggy. But he was… persistent. He won me over pretty quickly, to be honest. It wasn’t that hard, I had always been ridiculously attracted to him. We went on a few dates, and it was… magical. I had never felt that way, like we were just so right together, you know?”

Frank grunted. He knew. All too well.

“Well, suddenly, just out of the fucking blue, he started cancelling dates at the last minute. This was not a huge deal at first, he’s a lawyer, trying to establish his practice, you wouldn’t believe the hours of work he and Foggy could put in at times. I figured, big case. So one day, I thought I’d bring lunch over, force him and Foggy to take break, spend a bit of time together, even if it was just at his office over sandwiches… Foggy was super happy to see me, but Matt… He was visibly uncomfortable. That’s when, I got a little suspicious. But I told myself I was being silly. He knew how much our friendship meant to me, he wouldn’t have pursued me as he had if he wasn’t seriously interested in me, right? And I hadn’t imagined our chemistry, I was sure of that.

Then I left for a conference out of town for a week. Tried to call him a few times. My calls were never answered or returned. Not one. When I got back, I pretty much went straight to his place. I was hurt, but I was also worried about him. He opened the door… he was shirtless, and didn’t want to let me in. I pushed past him anyway.”

Frank huffed through his nose, knowing where this was going, of course.

“And she was there, the girl from tonight?”

“Yup. Sitting on his couch, in her underwear, not a care in the world. She jus said “Matthew, are you going to introduce us?” I still don’t know how I managed to hold it together, but I just turned to him and told him I was done with him, then left.”

She paused, looked down at her lap.

“I later found out from Foggy that she was Matt’s ex. She’s very wealthy, and she had hired Matt for something or other a few weeks before, which is when he started avoiding me. And then I guess they fell in bed together while I was at the conference, and now we’re here. I just… I can’t believe… why would he just not tell me? Tell me that his ex was back in town, and that he thought we should stop seeing each other, because he still had feelings for her. That would’ve hurt, you know, but at least, I would have felt he really did value our friendship at least, value me as someone who deserved honesty. I wouldn’t have felt like such an idiot. God, it was all so humiliating. If he had just told me what was going on through his head, I wouldn’t have felt like some dirty piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe. But no, he lied, he evaded, and he cheated as if I didn’t matter to him at all. As if I was just some chick he picked up for a one night stand at some bar, or something. That’s what I can’t forgive, I guess. ”

Frank muttered. “Fucking coward”

Karen huffed a small laugh. “Pretty much. Sorry for dumping all this on you.”

“No, no, I asked, didn’t I?”

She nodded with a shy smile.

“So… Change of topic. Your buddy really seemed to hit it off with my friend, back there… Marvin Gaye for the win!”

Frank chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah. Curtis the best person I know, so whatever that was about, your friend is in good hands. Hey, how do you know Trish Walker anyway?”

“Oh, we met at a media conference.”

“That’s right you said you’re a reporter…”

“Yes, for the Bulletin.”

That rang a bell in his head. He tried to think what was written on her mailbox, or next to her buzzer, but he was pretty sure she had not put her name on either.

“Is your last name Page, by any chance?”

“Yup. Page. Karen Page.” she added, with a rather bad English accent. It was adorable.

“Holy shit! You know, I’m pretty sure the owner of the construction company I work for has a shrine dedicated to you in his office. Not in a creepy way!” he added after a slightly freaked out expression passed over her features. “Your articles back in June played a big part in taking down Union Allied, right?”

“Uh, I guess…”

“Nah, c’mon don’t be modest. You blew that shit wide open, it was glorious. The company I work for ended up getting many of the construction contracts that were up for grabs after Union folded. Hence the shrine.”

“Oh, okay. Well, glad I could help. Tell your boss I only accept blood offerings, though.”

Christ, she was funny too.

“So you work construction then?”

“Part time, yeah, mostly demolition work. The rest of the time, I work for my friend’s private security firm, Anvil.”

“I think I’ve heard of them. “

“Quite possible, business is doing well right now. And, you heard the CEO sing about women’s underwear tonight.”

“Oh wow, really?”

“Really.”

“He was pretty good actually. I cringed a lot less that I thought I would when the song began. He made it work.”

“That’s Billy for you.”

They fell silent for a moment.

 “So, what exactly do you do at Anvil? Are you a bodyguard or a pencil pusher?”

“I mostly train the new recruits. I do the occasional protective details for the pickier clients, but nothing too high profile.”

Karen looked at him with a look that prodded him to elaborate.

“I served with the Marines for a long time. It was hard on my wife and my kids… Maria made it clear it wouldn’t be fair to them if I finished my service in one piece only to die protecting some corrupt politician or rich asshole. So you know… I try to take the less risky assignments. I don’t always feel good about it, taking the cushier jobs and leaving the more dangerous stuff to others, but I have to put my kids first.”

“I’m sure they sleep better at night for it.”

“Yeah…”

“You and your ex-wife… you guys get along?”

“We do, all things considered. We’re both committed to doing what’s best for the kids, and luckily, our ideas of what that means don’t differ too much, you know?”

She nodded, smiling gently at him. “Oh, looks like this is us!”

Frank only now noticed the cab had pulled over on their block. They paid for their fare, thanked the driver, and then started walking towards their building.

Now or never, he told himself. Tell her _Thong Song_ guy was also _Use your buddy’s apartment as a sex den while you’re gone_ guy.

“Hey listen, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

But he never got to finish that sentence.

 

Karen’s heart skipped a beat in anticipation of what Frank had to say.  A small part of her wanted it to be a declaration of love at first sight for her. She was so ridiculously attracted to him, she longed for it to be mutual. But a bigger part of her was really hoping it was nothing of the kind, because she didn’t know how she could resist him if he did try to seduce her, and she was still convinced that falling in bed with him would be a very very bad idea that could only lead to more heartache for her…

God, she was a mess.

But Karen didn’t have the time to ponder all this for more than a second, because a man suddenly jumped in front of them, aiming a gun at them.

“Give me your wallet and the bitch’s purse,” the mugger said.

Karen froze, and Frank seemed to as well for a second. Then he said, calm as cucumber:

“Ok, alright, we don’t want any trouble.”

Then he made as if he was reaching in his pocket for his wallet, when, before the mugger could even react, he grabbed the mugger’s gun and punched him in the face. The guy went down like a sack of potatoes. And just like that, Karen unfroze. Her legs suddenly felt like jelly, and she had to sit on the building’s steps.

“You okay?”

Karen nodded, which was both the truth and a lie. She was fine, but the sudden rush of adrenaline brought on by the attempted mugging and how quickly Frank jad disposed of the threat had left her feeling shaky.

She overheard Frank talking over his phone. He’d called the police, his eyes never leaving the unconscious mugger.

Holy shit. Holy. Shit. She’d just watch Frank knock out a guy with a single punch, and scary quick reflexes. He was basically making some form of citizen’s arrest.

Now Karen had never been one to moon over knights in shining armor, but damn if that didn’t make her swoon a bit.

Before she could even open her mouth to thank Frank for stopping the mugger, a patrol car rounded the corner and pulled over in front of them.

The next hour was spent basically explaining to the cops what had happened. Frank had to explain his background a bit, then both he and Karen had to give their contact info and were instructed on what to do in order to press charges if they wished to do so.

The whole thing felt interminable, and Karen was so fucking tired, all the adrenaline having now deserted her to make way ti complete exhaustion.

By the time they climbed the stairs back to their floor, it was well past 3am, and they could do no more than just wave at each other from their respective doors.

“Goodnight, Karen.”

“Night, Frank.”

It was only after she closed her door that it hit her: he hadn’t called her Ma’am this time. And it left her feeling all tingly.


	3. Fall

Karen was folding laundry, humming along with the music playing from her laptop, and noticing how the light coming from outside looked different from what it did a few weeks ago. It was late September, and the sunlight was already starting to take on its autumnal quality.

A knock on her door interrupted her Saturday afternoon ritual.

“Hey Karen? It’s Frank, you home?”

Karen’s heart skipped a beat, which made her roll her eyes at herself. She was worse than a teenager mooning over the school’s heartthrob. She hadn’t seem much of Frank after the night they split the cab home and he took out a mugger with one gesture of scarily effective brutality. He’d taken his kids for a two weeks’ vacation out of the city shortly after, and seemed to hardly be home since he came back. He did seem tired the few times they had crossed path in the hallway since, so she figured he’d been very busy with work.

She opened the door and was surprised to find him standing there with his daughter, who looked like someone who would prefer to be miles away right now.

“Hey Frank, what’s up?”

“Uh, yeah, well, this is Lisa… and she’s having, uh, feminine issues right now?” he replied, somewhat nervously.

“Dad!” Lisa interrupted, with visible embarrassment.

Karen was not sure what was going on (oh, she had a good feeling, but Lisa looked so young that she didn’t want to assume), but she did know what needed to be done.

“Hey, you want to come in for a minute Lisa?” she asked the preteen. “No boys allowed,” she added, looking at Frank.

Lisa, looked at the ground and nodded. Karen moved to let her in, and gave Frank what she hoped was a reassuring smile. It must have been, because his own expression changed immediately to one of gratefulness. She closed the door on him gently.

“So, how can I help you, Lisa?”

“Um, do you have… pads? I just got my period, and all that stuff is at my mom’s house.”

Karen smiled. So it was as she’s suspected.

“Come with me.”

Karen walked to her bathroom and looked under her vanity. Her pack was almost empty.

“Shoot, I only have two left… You sleeping at your dad’s tonight?”

“Yeah,”

“Ok, well why don’t you get yourself sorted out here, and then you and I can go to Duane Reads together and make sure you have everything you need for the rest of your stay.”

Lisa, while still looking somewhat mortified, seemed to relax a little.

“Ok.”

Karen stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She grabbed her purse, and slipped on her shoes.

“C’mon sweetie,” she called to Lisa when she padded back into Karen’s living room.

On the way out, Karen knocked on Frank’s door to let him know she was taking Lisa to the store a few blocks away. They stepped out of the building in the still warm air of early fall.

“So you don’t seem completely overwhelmed by all this. I’m guessing this isn’t your first period?”

“No, it’s not…”

“Can I ask… How old are you?”

“Eleven”

Karen winced in sympathy. That was indeed very young. Poor kid.

Karen didn’t want to pry, but she didn’t have to. Lisa seemed to want to get something off her chest, and started explaining how she had gotten her first period a few months back, but it hadn’t been regular, so she hadn’t really thought to come to her dad’s house prepared for the possibility.

“Your dad… did he know?”

“No… I hadn’t gotten around to telling him yet. My mom wanted me to tell him, but I didn’t want to, not yet. She and Richard made such a big fuss over me when it happened. I know they meant well, but I didn’t like it very much. And I didn’t want that to happen with dad…”

“I understand.”

They walked into the store, got what Lisa needed. Then Karen encouraged her to choose a chocolate treat.

“I know it’s a cliché but…”

“Clichés are clichés for a reason,” replied Lisa with a shy smile.

Smart girl, Karen thought.

“I didn’t think to bring any money,” Lisa suddenly said, an apologetic look on her face.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, ok?”

Karen paid, then the pair went back to the building.

“Are you gonna be ok? You can come back to my place for a bit, if you don’t feel like talking to your dad just yet,” Karen offered when they arrived at Frank’s door.

“No, that’s ok. Um, thanks Karen.”

“No problem. Us girls have to stick together, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Lisa let herself in her dad’s apartment, flashing Karen one last grateful smile before closing the door.

 

Karen didn’t hear from Frank until the following night, when he came knocking at her door, a bouquet of white roses in his hand.

“You got me flowers?”

“I’m an old fashioned guy… It’s just my way to say thank you for your help yesterday.”

“No need to thank me, it was my pleasure,” Karen said. “You, uh… you wanna talk about it?”

Frank grunted, a sound Karen interpreted as a yes, before following her inside her apartment.

She headed to the kitchen, found a vase and put her roses in the water while Frank looked around her place, stopping at her bookcase to inspect her book collection.

“Drink?”

“Christ yes!”

Karen chuckled. “I have beer, and some white wine… Unless you need something stronger…”

“Stronger, I think.”

“Stronger it is, then,” she said, reaching for the whiskey bottle.

“Wow. You have good taste, Miss Page.”

“As much as I would like to be able to present myself as a connoisseur, this was a present from my boss, after the story on Union Allied broke out and sales of the paper went up,” she explained, pouring them both two fingers of the stuff. “The shareholders were happy with Ellison, Ellison was happy with me, and now I get to drink the top shelf stuff!”

She handed him his drink, and they clinked glasses, before sitting down on opposite ends of her couch, turning towards each other.

“So… Is Lisa ok?”

“Yes, yes she is.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… I’m still a bit in shock though. I knew this day would come, but she’s not even twelve yet… She’s still a kid. ”

“She is. And it’s okay. It’s just biology, she’s not going to stop being a kid overnight because Mother Nature was in a bit of a rush.”

“I know… but it is a reminder that time is slipping by, and she’s gonna be a young woman soon, asking me to drop her off a block or two away from wherever she’s going so that I don’t embarrass her in front of her friends.”

“You have some time before that… I think? I never really did that growing up.”

“Oh? Bit of a daddy’s girl?” He was obviously teasing her, but Karen had to take a sip from her drink to give herself a chance to recover from the massive pinch to her heart brought on by the mention of her father.

“Not really… But where I lived, where I grew up, there was no public transportation, no real way to get around without a car, not in winter anyway. I never saw the point in hiding the fact that my dad had given me a lift somewhere. I’m too young to have a license, obviously someone drove me here, I didn’t materialize out of thin air, so why bother pretending otherwise?”

“I like a no nonsense kinda girl,” he said with a smile, eyes cast on his drink, the adorable flirt.

Karen couldn’t resist a coy flirty line of her own.

“Sorry to disappoint. I promise you there is plenty of nonsense to go around here.”

They stayed in companionable silence for a minute.

“It’s times like these that I get jealous of him, you know? Maria’s boyfriend… Well I guess he’s her husband now. Fuck, that feels weird to say,” Frank confessed.

Karen’s heart gave a painful throb in sympathy.

“Jealous how?” she pried, as gently as she could.

“Well he knew about this before I did. Lisa explained to me why she hadn’t told me before…”

“About her mom and her, uh, her stepfather, making a fuss…”

“Yeah. And I get it I guess, but I still feel I shoulda known before him, you know. I’m her actual dad. But he gets to see her and Frankie more than I do, live more days under the same roof as them than I do. And that’s… uh. That’s for the best you know? My work schedule is hardly stable, but Maria’s is, and now she has partner to pick up the slack if need be. Plus the kids, they’re used to seeing less of me, given I was serving overseas for the better part of their lives so far… It’s just… I missed so much. And I loved being a Marine, it was… it is a huge part of my identity. But there’s no making up for what I missed over the years… first steps, first lost tooth, first day of school. And now I’m back, and because Maria and I couldn’t figure our shit out, I’m still missing out on important things.”

Karen didn’t know what to say to that. She had a lump in her throat, feeling so much sympathy for the man sitting across from her. Noticing his glass was almost empty, she picked up the bottle and raised it towards him.

“That’s probably a bad idea, but what the hell,” Frank replied to her unspoken question.

As she poured, she found her voice again.

“So do you mind me asking… What happened between you two?”

“You sure you want to know about this? It’s really uninteresting, as divorce stories go.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything of course…”

“No, it’s fine… We just. Maria got pregnant three months after we started dating. It was unexpected, but I already knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, so it was a no brainer for me, I proposed right there and then. And she said yes. And it was good for a while, good enough to try for a second kid a few years later. But… it’s not easy being a soldier’s wife. And Maria, she, uh, she was amazing, dealing with me being away for long periods of times, not just away, but in active combat zones, you know? And when I came back, we had some seriously great honeymoon periods. It wasn’t perfect, it never is, we had our arguments, but overall, we seemed a good match, and I never regretted marrying her… I could only hope she felt the same about me.”

“So… what changed?” Karen prompted after he stayed quiet for a few beats.

“I came home. For real. For good. Honorable discharge, ready to give civilian life a try for the first time since I enlisted at eighteen. And after a few months, it started to feel like the pieces didn’t fit quite right anymore between Maria and me. We both agreed that it was probably because I was still trying to figure out what to do with my life, who I was if I wasn’t a Marine. That we would both get our bearings eventually. But it… was more than that. Suddenly we were tense around each other. I could tell I was getting on her nerves, I wasn’t sure if I was trying too hard, or not trying hard enough in her eyes, but she didn’t look at me the same way she used to, and I just felt tired of feeling like everything we did needed to be a negotiation. We decided to get counselling… Only to come to the conclusion that, somewhere along the way in the last, what was it… 8 or 9 years since our marriage, we had both changed. As people do. And maybe I changed even more than what happens from just getting older… The stuff I saw, the stuff I had to do during my service… Some of that always stays with you. Anyway, we both came to the conclusion that yes, any marriage requires some amount of work, but that ours had become pretty much nothing but work… And we both agreed that we were too damn young to spend the rest of our lives just struggling to stay together when our relation had basically run its course.”

Karen stayed quiet. She had never been in a true long term relationship, could only imagine the pain that would come from the realization that what was supposed to be forever could just… expire, for a lack of a better term.

“And now here we are. She started seeing Richard not long after we separated, and now she’s married, and I’m just this grumpy guy dumping all his baggage on his neighbor on a Sunday night,” he joked, trying to bring back a bit of levity to the conversation.

“No, I asked, didn’t I?” she replied, echoing his words from that cab ride a few weeks ago.

He just stared at her, a soft expression on his face. God, he had such nice eyes.

His phone buzzed, breaking the spell.

“Speaking of the devil”, he said, checking the display. “It’s Maria,” he elaborated. “She wants to talk.”

“Then I guess you had better call her,” said Karen, getting up from the couch to regretfully see her guest out.

“Yeah, hey listen I owe you big time.”

“No, you don’t, Frank, really, it was nothing.”

“Not to me it wasn’t. To Lisa either… If there is anything you need, anything at all…”

Karen was about to wave off his offer again, when she remembered something.

“Um, actually, now that I think about it… I’m heading out of town on vacation for two weeks next Saturday… If I left you my key, would you mind coming in, once or twice, to water my plants?”

Frank seemed a bit nonplussed by her request.

“Sure, yeah, no problem… Don’t have much of a green thumb, but I’m sure I can manage to keep your plants alive.”

Karen smiled. “Thanks. I’ll swing by with a set of keys later this week?”

“Sounds good. Thanks for the drink, Karen. And for the talk.”

“Anytime. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” And with that, he was gone, leaving her cozy apartment feeling suddenly unbelievably empty in his absence.

 

 

Three weeks later, Frank was reaching for a beer in his fridge, still shaking his head at David Lieberman’s terrible dad joke (that he couldn’t wait to try on his kids, just to hear them groan at him, if he was being honest) when he heard a knock on his door.

“I’ll get it,” called Sarah before Frank could even get his head of his fridge.

Sarah opened the door, and Frank immediately recognized the voice that asked:

“Oh hi! Is Frank here?”

“He’s here, and still sober, but not for long!” bellowed David.

“Jesus, Lieberman, are YOU drunk already? Fucking lightweight,” Frank grumbled. “C’mon in. Karen.”

He left his kitchenette to greet his neighbor, and nearly stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. She was somehow, impossibly, even more beautiful than he remembered. Evidently, the freak heatwave that had hit New York had also hit Cape Cod, where she had been vacationing (when he’d found out where she was going, he’d teased her about what an odd month it was to go on beach vacation on the freaking Northern East Coast _– Cheaper and quieter that way_ , had been her answer, and really, Frank could not argue with that logic), because her pale skin had taken on a slight golden tan, and her nose and cheeks were now covered with adorable freckles that just seemed to bring even more focus to her huge blue eyes. On top of that, she was wearing short shorts that were definitely sending his mind somewhere it shouldn’t, not when he had company, at least.

He did his best not to look like a besotted idiot, but probably had already spent a bit too much time just staring at her, because he heard Sarah clearing her throat deliberately.

“Frank, aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Uh, yeah, of course. Sarah and David, this is Karen, my neighbor. Karen, these are my friends, the Liebermans.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Karen with a smile (and, maybe he was imagining it, a slight bit of relief?)

“Likewise,” David said, having joined everyone by the door to come meet the newcomer. “Are you joining us tonight?”

“Um, what?” Karen asked, confused.

“Frank’s birthday! We’re going out to dinner… are you a surprise guest Frank forgot to tell us about?” Sarah said, with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“Oh, uh, no, I’m not, I mean I wasn’t invited,” Karen replied obviously flustered. “I just came to get my spare keys back and to give you this, Frank”.

Only now did he notice she had a gift bag in her hand.

“It was supposed to be a thank you gift, but I guess now it can double as a birthday gift,” she added, handing it over to him.

“You didn’t have to do that. I owed you the favor, remember?” Frank said, while reaching for the bag.

Karen just shrugged, with a sweet smile.

“Just saw it, and thought of you, for no real reason.”

Frank reached into his bag, now thoroughly intrigued, only to find an apron, with lobsters on it, reading “A little pinch of this, a little pinch of that”.

He laughed and said “This is awesome. I love it! And I didn’t have an apron, so my shirts thank you!”

(He mentally berated himself. And to think he was about to give Lieberman shit for his stupid dad jokes… yeah, he was in no position to throw rocks at anyone with a line like that.)

“There’s also a box of salt water taffy in there, for Lisa and Frankie”, Karen replied, not seeming too put off by Frank’s clumsy attempt at humor.

“That’s really nice of you Karen, thanks. Lemme get you yours keys,” he said, turning to his entrance table and catching the exasperated look Sarah was giving him.

Frank took his friend’s silent hint for what it was and asked:

“Hey, you sure you don’t want to join us? It’s a really casual dinner at this really great hole in the wall Italian restaurant we know… Best kept secret in Hell’s Kitchen. Good food and good company, well, except for David here…”

“Hey, fuck you very much, Castle!” David interrupted, with mock affront.

Karen was laughing again, but then demurred.

“Oh no, I really wouldn’t want to impose… Besides, I’m already back at work tomorrow, and have two weeks’ worth of laundry to do and emails to wade through, once I figure out what the hell is wrong with my computer.”

“What’s happening to your computer?” Sarah asked, entirely too interested. She was up to something, Frank was sure of it.

“Oh, it just keeps rebooting again and again. I think it’s dying on me…”

“Well David can take a look at it, can’t you honey?”

“I can?”

“Yes! We don’t have to leave for the restaurant for another 45 minutes. Go on, go take a look!”

David caught on to what Sarah was trying to do.

“I can! C’mon let’s go take a look,” he said to Karen, who looked a bit dazed about the turn her visit to Frank had taken.

“Uh, ok thanks. It was nice to meet you Sarah. Happy Birthday, Frank!” she said before leading David to her apartment.

The second the door closed behind them, Sarah turned on him.

“What is going here?”

“What?”

“Why am I only now finding out about this gorgeous woman who is clearly really into you, and whom you’re clearly into as well? And why the hell was she not invited to your birthday in the first place? The two of you obviously have a thing going on, and you haven’t told your best friends that the reason you turned down any chance to be set up with any of the very nice women David and I know is that you are mooning over the woman next door!” she admonished in one breath.

Frank pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the onset of a very specific type of headache that was usually only brought on by David, not by his wife.

“There was nothing to tell. Sure, I’m attracted to Karen, but you’re making it into something way bigger than it is,” he protested.

“ _My shirts thank you,_ ” Sarah mimicked, which made Frank want to punch his own lights out. “Oh Frank, you just turned beet red, which I haven’t seen you do since…. Well, since you met Maria.”

Frank took a few long sips from his beer.

“Okay, and look at how that turned out.”

“Oh, don’t try that with me, I know a deflection when I hear one, Frank Castle,” her tone suddenly fond. “I’ve known you all my life, sometimes I feel like I can read you even better than my own husband and my own actual brother. You’ve got it real bad for that woman, and I want to know why you haven’t asked her out,” she cajoled.

Frank sighed, then gave her the cliff notes about the whole “Karen thinks I’m a manwhore” situation.

Sarah was not impressed.

“That’s it? That’s your excuse? If this isn’t some invented problem, I don’t know what is.”

“The timing is never right… We haven’t had that many conversations, and then there were muggers, and talks about imploding marriages, and all kinds of shit that makes it impossible or inappropriate to discuss my lack of a sex life, Sarah!” he defended himself.

“And the longer I wait to tell her, the more awkward it feels to bring it up,” he added, in quieter tone. “I’ll get there, just. Just let me do it in my own time.”

Sarah sighed, relenting.

“Ok. Ok, but don’t wait too long. Just invite her to join you to do something, anything that might not seem like a romantic invitation, if you feel you have a better chance to getting her to accept. And then tell her, even if it is awkward. I know chemistry when I see it, Frank. Don’t let this pass you by.”

Frank looked at his childhood friend, the closest thing he had to a sister, and just nodded, before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head.

 

 

Once again, time seemed to accelerate. The next time he got a chance to see Karen, it was once again to ask her a neighborly favor. He was leaving for two weeks on a protective detail for Anvil, doing security for the same heiress as a few months ago, who was escaping the sudden arrival of the late October chill by taking a trip to warmer climates. Frank wasn’t too keen on going, but the money was excellent, for a job with so little danger to it. He couldn’t turn it down, and so here he was asking his neighbor to pick up his mail in his absence.

“No plants to water?” Karen teased.

“No, not yet anyway. There may be a cat to feed soon, though.”

“A cat? I always figured you as more of a dog person, to be quite honest.”

“Oh I am. But my schedule is too all over the place for a dog, and Lisa really wants a cat, but Maria is allergic… So I’m considering it. What the hell, there’s got to be some perks to having your parents live in separate homes, right?” he joked. “Just gotta get used to the idea of keeping a box of shit in my house.”

Karen laughed out loud at that, which as usual, made Frank fall even deeper under her spell. Was there no limit to how profound a crush could be?

“Well, I’m more of a dog person too, but I’ll happily feed your potential cat when you go out on business if you need me to.”

And then, as was typical of any conversation they ever had, they were rudely interrupted, this time by the arrival of a very excited Foggy, who had somehow made his way into their building without needing to be buzzed in

“Hey Karen, guess what? I’m proposing to Marci, and you’re coming to help me pick out a ring!”

“What, right now?” Karen asked, incredulous.

“Yes, no time like the present! What else are you doing on a rainy Saturday afternoon?”

“Nothing, I guess… Ok, come in for a minute, while I get ready,” she told her friend, before turning to Frank. “Well, if I don’t see you again before you leave, have a great trip, Frank…”

“Uh, yeah, thanks. Hey man, congratulations!” he called out to Foggy, who was now standing behind Karen buzzing with impatience.

“She hasn’t said yes yet, but thanks, Karen’s neighbor!” the goofy little man replied. He and Lieberman would get along swimmingly, Frank was sure of it.

Karen rolled her eyes good naturedly, and smiled at Frank one last time in silent goodbye before closing her door.

 

 

Karen Page was engaged in a funny little dance with her neighbor. They exchanged small favors, then gave each other little thank you gifts, even though the favor was supposed to be in return for the previously done favor. The whole thing was just a courting ritual, in Jessica’s and Trish’s (unsolicited) opinion.

“You’re not just in lust anymore Karen. You have it bad for the man. Admit it,” Trish insisted one November morning over brunch in her ridiculously gorgeous penthouse.

Karen took a sip of her coffee. She really didn’t want to admit it, but Trish was right. She carried a massive torch for Frank now, which was exciting, but mostly terrifying. She could feel her resolve being slowly chipped away, with every interaction they had, every encounter in the hallway, every text message they exchanged (oh, yeah, they were texting each other almost every day now. That was a thing they did. This morning, he had sent her a picture of a tea shop sidewalk sign advertising a cappuccino flavored tea, with the comment _If that’s not a sign that the apocalypse in upon us, I don’t know what is_ , which still made her smile hours later when she thought about it). She was way past thawing towards him, she was positively melting every time they saw each other. If he ever made a pass at her, she was pretty sure that remembering that she would be just one conquest amongst many would not matter anymore. She would just give in.

Terrifying.

Karen fingered the pretty braided leather bracelets Frank had given her when he had returned from his Anvil assignment two weeks ago, feeling childishly sorry that Trish and Curtis’s flirting at the karaoke bar had not gone beyond that. If they had gone on even just a few dates, she might have gained some insight into how Frank felt about her, what were his intentions towards her. And that, once again, was some high school level bullshit right there. She was acting as if she was back in high school.

She rolled her eyes at herself, and changed the topic to the subject of Foggy’s thoroughly Foggy-like proposal to Marci, and Marci’s thoroughly Marci-like answer (but she had said yes, which was all that mattered).

A few hours later, she was at her building’s door, struggling to find her keys at the bottom of her purse while balancing a very full grocery bag in her arms, when she heard his voice, a sound that now never failed to make her heart beat faster. Christ, she was pathetic.

“Need a hand, Ma’am?”

“Oh are we back to Ma’am, now?” she flirted right back. In for penny...

Frank only chuckled, pulling out his own keys to unlock the door, then grabbing her grocery bag. She ought to have protested against his chivalry, Karen had always bristled at any implication that she might be weak, but she had learned over the last few weeks that Frank’s old fashioned manners were as integral to his personality as her own appetite for independence was. You can’t get a tiger to change its stripes, and as far as stripes go, Frank’s commitment to what he was brought up to see as good manners were really not that bad.

 

“That’s quite a full bag you got here. Planning a feast?”

“Nope… But the weather did put me in the mood for some soup, and for baking…” she replied with a smile. She really did love fall.

When they reached their floor, Frank waited till she had finally fished out her keys and unlocked the door before nestling her grocery bag back in her arms.

He suddenly seemed a little bashful, which made her pulse flare up again… He clearly wanted to ask her something, and the suspense was killing her.

“So… um, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?”

Ok, so really not what Karen was expecting.

“Oh, uh, I don’t have any plans yet. Foggy usually invites me at his family’s dinner, but he’s spending Thanksgiving with Marci’s family this year. Not sure what Trish and Jessica are doing, but no one has mentioned anything to me one way or another.”

“Not going to visit your folks, then?” Frank asked.

Only her years of experience masking the pain that question inevitably brought up prevented Karen from flinching at that. But she didn’t want to lie to Frank… She just couldn’t do that with him, for some reason. So while she wasn’t about to spill all the details of her family’s demise, she didn’t deflect as she had so often done with others.

“No… It’s just my dad and I now, and we don’t…”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he said, seeming to understand immediately that no more details would be forthcoming. Knowing that no more needed to be said.

“Well, would you like to come have dinner with us? With me and the kids? I have them for Thanksgiving this year… Everyone we know has been invited to other relatives’ dinner, so we decided we were going to try our hand at making a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings all by ourselves, for the first time. I can’t promise you the food will be any good, but I’m fairly confident we wouldn’t poison you.”

Karen was quite touched by the invitation.

“Are you sure the kids won’t mind? This is their time with you…”

“They won’t, and besides, I have’ em for the entire weekend after Thanksgiving, so we’ll have plenty of time on our own even if you do join us for dinner.”

“Okay…”she said.

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Great, see you on Turkey Day then… around 5pm?” Frank asked, a touch of elation in his voice.

Karen knew the feeling. This invitation, these plans… they felt like a huge step towards something.

“Sounds good! I’ll bring dessert?”

“Sure, if you want.”

“Oh, I want,” she said. Before she could die of embarrassment by dwelling of the possible double-entendre in her answer, she made a big gesture of hefting her bag further up in her arms, and wished Frank a good night before escaping into her apartment.

 

                                                                         

Karen took one last look in the mirror, fairly satisfied. She wasn’t sure what was appropriate attire for Thanksgiving dinner with a man whose bones you really wanted to jump and his two kids… But she thought she had found the right balance by choosing her purple wool dress. It was not low cut in anyway, the hem fell just a smidge above her knee, the fabric was seasonally appropriate, but the dress hugged her curves perfectly, without being overly tight. That seemed to hit the right balance.

She paired it with a delicate chain, and the bracelets Frank had given her, put on her favorite ballet flats, heels seeming too formal, and grabbed the cake she had baked earlier this afternoon, the gift she had picked out for her host, then made her way next door.

She knocked, and the door flew open a few seconds later Lisa greeting her cheerfully.

“Hi Karen! Come in!”

“Hi Lisa! And you must be Frank Jr.” she said to the wary 9 year old hovering between the entrance and the kitchen.

“Frankie, mind your manners,” Frank called out, emerging from the kitchen.

“Hello,” the boy said timidly.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” Frank said, coming to greet Karen. He was wearing a plaid shirt, sleeves rolled at the elbows, the apron Karen had given him, and a tea towel thrown over his shoulder, handsome as ever. He nearly took her breath away, and all she could do for a moment was to beg, inside her head “Oh, please don’t break my heart, Frank, please, please, please.”

“Happy Thanksgiving!” she replied a beat too late, but before things got too awkward, she handed him the cake she had made. “Here’s dessert, Granny Page’s famous maple walnut cake. And here’s a plant for me to water when you’re away,” she joked, handing him the orchid she had picked out.

“Oh wow, what’s that for?” Frank asked, a bit dumbfounded.

“Well, a traditional hostess gift is often flowers, but since you said you had no plants, I figured I’d spring for something with a bit more staying power. You can also think of it as a belated housewarming present, if you prefer.”

“Thank you! So a plant to water, and a cat to feed when I’m away... You sure you can handle it?”

“A cat? You got the cat?”

“Yes!” Lisa and Frankie exclaimed in unison.

“Here he is,” said Frankie, picking up a black and white cat that had been sitting on a chair, unnoticed by Karen. “Dad picked him up from the shelter last weekend.”

“He doesn’t have a name yet… We haven’t been able to agree on one…” Lisa said.

“Any suggestions?” Frank asked, with a hopeful note in his voice that spoke volumes about the arguments that the cat’s name had brought on between the children.

“Let me see,” Karen said, motioning for Frank Jr. to come closer with the feline in his arms… The cat had a white patch right on his chest, and white paws like little mittens or gloves. “How about Jeeves? He kinda looks like a little butler…” Karen suggested.

“I like it”, Frank proclaimed.

“Yeah… Me too,” chimed in Lisa.

Frank Jr was not sold, but didn’t outright reject it, which Karen counted as a win.

“It smells delicious in here,” Karen remarked, which prompted both kids to start explaining who had done what for the meal. They were obviously quite proud of what they had managed to accomplish alongside their dad, and just like that, the ice was broken. This was going to be a lovely evening.

 

All Frank could think, as he watched Karen laughing with his children at the cat’s antics as he chased a laser beam Frankie was pointing at the wall, was “This… this works. This could be so good.”

Karen had showed up, looking as beautiful as ever, and she just fit, in here, with him and his kids. Hell, he was pretty sure they now had a name for the cat thanks to her.

“All right, how about we dig into Karen’s dessert, huh?” Frank said, getting up to retrieve the cake and some plates from the kitchen.

The cake was delicious, just like the rest of the meal had been, to everyone’s immense pride and satisfaction.

“Maple syrup, huh?” Frank asked.

“Yup!” Karen replied. “What can I say… You can take the girl out of Vermont, but…”

“Ah! So you’re a Vermonter, then!“ he said, remembering that she had talked of being from a small town, without giving out any more details than that.

“Born and raised.”

“I bet you’re one of those ladies who show up at a diner with a bottle of maple syrup in their purse”, he teased.

She scoffed “You better freaking believe it. What you New Yorkers call syrup is an abomination, a downright insult to pancakes and to waffles!” she proclaimed.

They were interrupted by the kids asking if they could play a game. After a few minutes of debate, they agreed on Settlers of Catan.

They had to explain the rules to Karen, but the game was soon underway. Frankie being the youngest had always had a bit more difficulty strategizing, but he was getting better every time they played, and now, Karen and he had engaged in an unspoken and unholy alliance, each hoarding important resources that they traded freely between each other, but very shrewdly with Frank and Lisa, much to the latter’s dismay.

In other words, they were all having a blast.

The game ended with Frankie’s very first victory, for which he high fived Karen. Their little Thanksgiving celebration was definitely a success.

Time was flying though, and soon Frank sent the kids to get ready for bed. He offered Karen some coffee, hoping they could get a chance to talk in private once the kids were down, but to his chagrin, Karen turned him down, albeit regretfully.

“I really would love to stay, Frank, truly… but it’s getting late, and I do have to work tomorrow….”

“Covering Black Friday related murders at Walmart?” Frank joked in an effort to hide his disappointment.

“Well I do cover the crime beat, even those committed in the name of consumerism run amok. All kidding aside, Ellison has been on a war path to get the Saturday edition of the Bulletin to beat the Post’s at sales, so Fridays in general are always an all-hands-on-deck kind of thing. Team meeting at 8:30 AM sharp, and God help anyone who even stifles a yawn…”

He walked her to the door and asked “Are you gonna be okay getting home?” to make her laugh, which it did.

“I’ll manage,” she replied. “Thank you for inviting me. I had a wonderful time.”

A piece of her hair fell in front of her face, and before Frank knew what he was doing, he had reached to swipe it back behind her ear. The air was suddenly charged between them, but before he could lean in and press his mouth against her cheek (or her lips? He hadn’t made up his mind yet) he heard a giggle coming from the edge of hallway.

“Are you guys going to kiss?” Lisa asked, cheekily, now in pajamas, her brother at her side.

“Ew, Dad!” Frankie, added, which made Karen burst into laughter.

Though Frank managed to hide it pretty well, he was far less amused. He loved his kids more than anything in the world, but he really wanted to throttle the both them right now.

“Hey, no comments from the peanut gallery! Say goodbye to Karen, guys,” he said, knowing the moment was gone.

“Good night, Karen!”

“Goodnight! Thanks for letting me join you guys!” she replied, before turning to him, in a softer voice. “Goodnight, Frank.”

And with that she was gone, leaving behind only the faint notes of her delicate perfume.

 


	4. Winter

A few weeks after Thanksgiving, Frank and Curtis were spending a Saturday night catching up over a few pints at an Irish pub a few blocks away from Frank’s place, at a table by the window that let them watch bundled up New Yorkers hurrying about in the cold. Though December 21st was still over a week away, winter had descended quite suddenly upon New York City, and the promise of a white Christmas permeated the air.

“Wait, so you haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving?” Curtis asked Frank, incredulously.

“No, we’ve texted back and forth, but I got busy with work, and she’s pretty much been living at her office too from what I gather. It’s like the universe is conspiring against me.” Frank grumbled.

“But you live next door to each other! Man, it’s been how many months now? Stop waiting for the perfect moment to tell her, just knock on her door and when she opens tell her about Billy, then ask her out and be done with it. It’s really not that complicated!”

Deep down, Frank knew Curtis was right, this was getting ridiculous. He wanted Karen. He was pretty sure she wanted him too. They were both adults. But he wasn’t sure Curtis appreciated how, with every missed opportunity to reveal himself as very much celibate since even before they met, it was getting harder and harder to bring up. Maybe he could just text her to tell her…

Or maybe he could just knock on the window and gesture for her to join he and Curtis for a drink, because, here she was, passing by in front of the pub, as if the universe was throwing him some gigantic bone after months of cock blocking him.

Before he could second guess himself, he did just that, reached out to knock on the window. It worked, she looked at the pub’s window, her puzzled expression soon changing to a smile of recognition. Frank motioned for her to come inside, and she gave a little “why not” shrug before going to the door and pulling it open.

“Hey!” she said.

“Hey Karen, where are you headed?”

“Home.”

“Any plans for tonight?”

“No, just me and Netflix, I guess.”

“Well, now you have to stay for a drink, then.”

Karen smiled, turning to Curtis who had surveyed his friend’s crush sudden apparition with great interest. “Only if I’m not imposing.”

“No, no, not at all. I’m Curtis,” he said, getting up to extend his hand, which Karen took and shook, her smile getting brighter.

“Karen. And I remember you, you’re the guy who put all of us to shame with his singing at that karaoke bar last summer.”

“Glad to know I made an impression! Sit, sit!” Curtis urged.

Frank watched Karen take off her beanie, and shrug of her winter coat. She was wearing jeans and a simple white knitted sweater, and he knew he was completely besotted, because his thoughts once again turned to how well she fit in. She fitted in with him, sharing a cab home after a night out with friends, she fitted in with him and his kids over a family meal, and now she fitted in inside some tiny hole in the wall Irish pub, over some pints with the man who was like a brother to him.

He tried to quell the wave of panic that hit him when he realized: he wasn’t just besotted. This wasn’t just a crush.

 He was in love with Karen Page.

 

Karen ordered a pint of Guinness

“Perfect weather for a stout” she said when the waiter deposited the frothy black beer in front of her, and Curtis and Frank toasted in agreement.

And then they got talking, Curtis telling Karen about serving with Frank, and the stories and exploits that had earned him the nickname of Punisher, Karen telling them about her latest story, Frank telling them about his plans for Christmas with the kids.

It was wonderful, so much more fun than the lonely Saturday night she had had in store before she heard Frank knocking on the window.

The bar was pretty cozy, dark, but with lighting meant to imitate the comforting glow of a fire place. They all got hungry, but none of them felt like braving the cold outside just yet, so they ordered pub fare. The food was quite good, actually, the kind of stuff that stuck to your ribs and warmed you up from the inside out.

Karen was just happy here, with Frank and his friend. She was getting a bit of a buzz from her third pint, and suddenly got a bit fixated on Frank’s cable knit sweater, and how soft it looked, and how comfy she would be if she could just lean over, and rest her head over Frank’s shoulder, how she longed to snuggle against his obviously very firm chest.

But instead of chiding herself as she often did when her thoughts turned that way, Karen found herself making a decision. She wanted Frank. Anyway she could have him, anyway he would have her. And she would tell him. Better yet, she’d ask HIM out. This was 2017, she needed a date for the crazy fancy engagement party Marci’s parents were throwing, and she would ask Frank to be that date. So there!

Karen took a sip from her beer and put her pint back down on the table a little more forcefully than she meant to.

“Oops. Maybe this should be my last drink,” she said, laughing at herself.

But Frank and Curtis insisted she joined them for a glass of whiskey as a night cap before leaving, and she really couldn’t say no. She really was enjoying herself in their company.

After they ordered their final drink, Frank excused himself to go to the washroom.

“So…” Curtis said, looking at her rather intensely.

“Yes?” she replied, not sure what to expect. Maybe something along the lines of _What are your intentions with my friend?_   she thought, amused.

“Ok, Frank is probably going to kill me for telling you this, but I don’t trust him to do it himself anymore, so I’m going to take the plunge for him. He can thank me later after he is done kicking my ass.”

“O-kay?” Now she was dying of curiosity. And slightly worried.

“So remember how when you met Frank, you told him to maybe not be so loud when he brought women home?”

“Um, yeah? He told you about that?” Karen’s heart was suddenly beating miles per hour, and she was grateful for the relative darkness of the pub, knowing she was probably beet red right now.

“He did. He also told me about how our buddy Billy used Frank’s apartment to bring home many women while Frank was on a job in Bali. Something about the convenience of the location, and not having your one night stands know your actual address…” Curtis revealed.

Karen was overwhelmed (with hope, with joy, with embarrassment – you name it, she was feeling it) and could hardly speak without stuttering.

“S-so what you’re saying is…”

“Frank is not a hound dog, Karen. He never has been, that’s never been his style. He’s been trying to tell you, but apparently the timing has never been right or some bullshit. If you ask me, he was being a chickenshit, which is hilarious, considering what I’ve seen him do when we served together.”

Curtis waited for Karen to say something, but her heart was in throat, blocking any sound she tried to make. He must have sensed her mild distress, because he put his hand on top of hers.

“Now I know I’m probably overstepping, but I’m going to say this so there is zero doubt in your mind here. Frank is crazy about you.”

Karen gave a strangled laugh, and thought she was maybe about to burst into tears, maybe giggle uncontrollably, feeling completely hysterical. Thankfully, the waiter chose that moment to arrive and deposit her whiskey in front of her. She grabbed her glass and took a gulp rather than a sip, relishing the intense burn it brought, which helped ground her just in time for Frank’s return.

 

Something was up. Curtis was grinning like the cat that ate the cream and Karen was… flustered? Anxious? Whatever it was, she was brimming with a nervous energy that wasn’t there before.

All the same, the three of them had savored their single malt, then had gestured for their check. As they were putting on their jackets, Frank turned to Karen and joked:

“Walk you home, Ma’am?”

“If it’s not too much out of your way,” she deadpanned.

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” he replied, before turning to Curtis. “Curtis, you walking to the subway?”

“Nah, I’m beat, I’m gonna spring for a cab. Karen, it was a pleasure, truly.”

“Likewise, Curtis. And thank you.”

“It was my pleasure, believe me!” his friend answered.

Okay, something was definitely up. But before Frank could ask what the hell was going, Curtis grabbed him across the shoulders to bring him into a hug, giving him a few hearty slaps on the back, saying “You’re welcome too, brother.” Then without furthered ado, he turned to hail a passing cab, and was gone in a flash.

Before Frank could ponder some more about what the fuck that was all about, Karen called out to him.

“Shall we?”

“Uh yeah, yeah, let’s go,” he said. The way she was looking at him at now made him think she probably wouldn’t reject his arm if he offered it to her, and so he did. And she took it with a smile.

They walked in silence for a block or two, before she spoke.

“So, um, you know my friend Foggy?” Frank grunted in the affirmative, and she continued, suddenly talking faster than he ever heard her do before. “Well, he’s engaged now, and Marci – that’s his fiancée – well Marci’ s parents are throwing them this super fancy engagement party in two weeks, and, well, I was wondering… would you like to come with me? As my date?”

Frank tried to answer, but his voice seemed to have deserted him. SHE had asked HIM out. He had not seen that coming, had never dared to hope that she might take the first step. Karen stopped walking, looking suddenly unsure.

“Frank? Did you hear what I…”

“Yes!” he replied. His voice was strangely hoarse, but at least it was back. “Yes, I heard you. And yes, I’ll go… I’ll be your date.”

“Oh… Oh great. You scared me for a second there. I really thought I had misread our entire vibe…”

“I’m not a manwhore!” he blurted out.

“What?”

“I’m not… The women you heard when I first moved in, they weren’t with me...”

Now it was her turn to cut him off. “I know! Um, Curtis told me, earlier tonight. I had already decided to take a chance and ask you to be my date, but I guess, that further sealed the dear.” And then, she started laughing, harder than he had ever seen her laugh before, obviously trying to stop, but unable too.

He could only stare at her, amused but also pretty dumbfounded.

“I’m glad you’re finding humor in all this,” he grumbled without any heat.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “We’re just such idiots, the both of us! Like, why couldn’t we just have talked about this months ago?”

Frank was saved from having to give his “It’s never been the right moment” speech by their arrival in front of their building. He opened the door for her, she flashed him a smile, her eyes still full of mirth, taking his breath away as she so often did.

She held out her hand to him, and he took it, letting her pull him up the stairs. He walked her to her door.

“So, this party? In two weeks you said?”

“Yes, on the 23rd. Semi-formal. There’s gonna be champagne, food, dancing, all that snooty stuff. I hope that’s okay?”

“Not usually my scene, but with you on my arm, I bet I can manage not to make a fool of myself. I know I’ll be the envy of many.” It was corny, but it was no line, he meant every word of that.

“Yeah, it’s not usually my kind of thing either. I’m glad you’ll be there with me,” she confided softly.

He really wanted to kiss her right now. But something told him to wait. Savor this a little. Wait until he had taken her out a real date. Let the anticipation build a bit. So he compromised, leaning over slowly to kiss her cheek. Her breath hitched, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to go back in for her lips.

“What time should I pick you up?” her murmured.

“Seven? Let’s say seven.”

“Okay… I’m gonna say goodnight now.”

He could tell part of her wanted to protest. But he could also tell that, like him, another part of her knew this was worth doing right.

“Goodnight, Frank.”

“Goodnight, Karen.”

 

 

Two weeks later, Frank was adjusting his tie in the mirror, wondering how on earth a man with an ugly mug like his managed to convince beautiful women like Maria and Karen to be seen in public with him. At least, Billy had been right, the suit did look very sharp.

The morning after Karen had asked him out, he had called Sarah in a bit of panic. He needed a suit for their date, and all he had was the Anvil monkey suit he had to wear on protective duty for the pickier clients. Not at all what he wanted to wear to escort Karen at her friend’s engagement party.

Sarah had replied that she would be happy to help (and had squealed like a teenage girl when he had told her why it was exactly that he needed a suit), but that she didn’t know much about good suits, and that David knew even less about them ( _The man would probably go everywhere in his bathrobe if he could,_ she’d said), but then she had pointed out to him who would be the obvious choice to help him in his quest.

Billy Fucking Russo. Of course. Why hadn’t he thought of him first? The bastard owed him after all, for the whole confusion he had caused between Karen and Frank.

Bill readily agreed to help Frank, not without a bit of ribbing first, and now Frank saw that his buddy had been indeed the right man for the job. He hadn’t been sure about the blue, but Billy had told him this was as far from an Anvil suit as he could get, and that had sealed the deal.

Well, here goes nothing. Frank grabbed his wallet, his phone, and his keys, put on his winter coat, then made his way next door, ready to pick up his date. He knocked, and a few seconds later, he heard the sound of Karen’s numerous locks being unbolted.

And then her door opened to reveal a vision. Karen was wearing a fitted knee length black dress, one that highlighted her lovely shape, and her elegant updo enhanced the lovely line of her neck. Everything so simple, yet so elegant, much like the woman herself.

“Wow,” he said dumbly.

“Wow yourself,” she replied a bit breathlessly.

Before he knew it, he had grabbed her by the waist to bring her closer to him, before leaning his forehead against hers.

“Not to be that guy, but are you sure we have to go to this thing?” he murmured. He was only half-joking.

Karen chuckled. "Not to be that girl, but yes, yes we do. But,” she amended, while running her hand on the edge of his suit jacket, it doesn’t meant we have to be on time.”

Frank inhaled deeply at that. That was a tempting offer if he’d ever heard one, but one the gentleman in him was forced to decline.

“As much as I like the sound of that, if we’re gonna do this, I think we should do it right.”

“If you insist,” she replied with a cute little pout. Then she reached for her coat on the hook next to the door, but he promptly grabbed it to hold it open for her, unable to resist the urge to drop a kiss on her neck when she turned her back to him to shrug it on.

Now it was Karen’s turn to take a sharp breath. “Tease!” she said, before sashaying through the door he was holding open for her.

Oh, tonight was going to be fun.

 

 

Tonight was going to be torture. Frank looked like a goddamned wet dream, and that kiss on her neck had turned Karen on like nothing before. To be honest, she had been in a state of near perpetual arousal since he had kissed her cheek, two weeks ago. Needless to say, she was not about to play hard to get or any other game tonight. They would get through the party, and then Karen was going to get some from the man who had been the star of all her fantasies since they first crossed paths all those months ago.

They took a cab across town, holding hands, and Karen explained to him that the lavish party Marci’s family was throwing for their daughter’s engagement was apparently a crazy Stahl family tradition, where the older generation tried to outdo each other with how much money they bestowed upon their offspring’s engagement. According to Foggy, it had become this thing where often the engagement party was more lavish than the wedding itself.

“That’s nuts!” Frank exclaimed, as they made their way into the hotel where the party took place, and were invited to check in their coats.

“Yes. Yes it is. But it looks like us guests reap the benefits of this insanity,” Karen replied, as a waiter carrying a tray approached to offer them a glass of champagne before they had even taken two steps inside the reception hall.

Said reception hall was beautifully set-up, like a romantic winter wonderland. Before Karen was really done taking in all the gorgeous details, Foggy and Marci came to greet them.

“Hey guys, welcome to our humble, understated party,” Foggy said.

Marci rolled her eyes.

“He’s been saying that all night. The joke is not getting old at all.”

“That’s what you get for marrying below you,” Foggy replied. “Frank, right?” he added, extending his hand.

Frank shook it. “Yes. Congratulations! She said yes!”

“Yes, for whatever reason. Maybe she’s not as smart as she looks,” Foggy joked, for which Marci pretended to punch him.

“All right, I see more people we have to greet. Enjoy the party, you guys! I hope we’ll see you on the dance floor,” she said, before dragging Foggy away.

“They’re an odd match, but they work,” Karen remarked. “Dance with me?” she then asked, suddenly really eager to get Frank’s arms around her.

Frank did that smile and look away thing that Karen had always found endearing, before taking her hand and leading her to dance floor.

 

As fancy parties went, this one wasn’t too bad, though there was no doubt in Frank’s mind that his date for the night was the main reason he was enjoying himself so much.

They’d spent the evening dancing, chatting with the Nelsons - a family of down to earth butchers that Frank and Karen naturally found more relatable than Marci’s high power attorney friends - drinking champagne and chasing waiters passing around hors-d’oeuvres. There was no sit down dinner, so they made a game of trying to get as much food as they could, as discretely as they could.

He was about to lead Karen back onto the dance floor, eager to hold her close to him again, when they were accosted by Matt and Elektra.

“Hey Karen, can I steal you for a minute?” Matt asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

Karen seemed to hesitate for a second, before answering.

“Huh, sure… I’ll be right back, Frank.”

Frank just nodded, hoping whatever that was about would not spoil Karen’s night. He watched Karen take Matt’s arm in a practiced manner to guide him to a quieter place in the reception hall to talk.

“Do you think she’ll ever forgive him?” Elektra asked suddenly.

“Dunno. Maybe. It might take some time, but I guess it’s possible.”

“I hope you’re right,” she replied. “He really is sorry for hurting her. It has been weighing on him. I didn’t appreciate it fully at the time, when we started up again and she showed up at his place. How much he did care for her.”

Frank could tell she was sincere, and grunted in acknowledgement, though he had limited sympathy for both Elektra and her beau.

“Hopefully they can be friends again, someday. He misses her.”

Frank was saved from having to come up with a reply by Karen and Matt’s return. He simply grabbed the former’s hand and put it around his neck, while gently pulling on her waist to bring her on the dance floor.

“Everything ok?” he asked.

“Yes. Matt actually had a very good idea for a wedding gift for Foggy and Marci, and wanted to know if I’d be on board for splitting the cost with him, making it a joint gift.”

“And?”

“And I said yes. Saves me from having to come up with a gift of my own, and it IS a really good idea he had, even I have to admit it. But I really don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

“Oh?” he said, bringing her closer to rest his forehead against her. “What _do_ you want to talk about?”

She brought her hand up through his hair, looking in his eyes. “Actually, I think I’m done with talking for the night,” she said, before bringing her lips to his.

Frank had no idea how much time they spent swaying together while making out on the dance floor. All he knew is that when they came up for air, Karen leaned over to whisper in his ear “Take me home, Frank.” to which there was only one possible reply:

“Yes Ma’am.”

 

On the morning of December 24th, Karen woke up on cloud nine, spooned against Frank’s naked torso, his strong arm thrown across her waist. She snuggled a bit closer, smiling when he dropped a kiss on her temple with a satisfied sigh.

Life had never been quite so good.

Last night, they had left the party in hurry, only stopping quickly to say their goodbyes to the fiancés (Foggy had actually wagged his eyebrows at Karen, effectively telling her that she and Frank were being very obvious right then) before jumping into a cab to make out furiously in the back seat.

They had gone to Frank’s apartment and had lost their fancy clothes rather quickly, before Frank managed to pull sounds out of Karen that surely put to shame every single one of Billy’s conquests. Frank had later joked that he was pretty sure their other neighbor was going to start giving him thumbs up in the hallway again, which had made Karen blush all over, much to Frank’s delight.

Their post-coital bliss had been interrupted by the grumbling sounds of Frank’s stomach. As much as the hors-d’oeuvres they had fun chasing around had been delicious, they were no replacement for a full meal, and both of them were suddenly famished.

So they had gone in Frank’s kitchen, he in his boxers, she in his shirt, and had made sandwiches with some left over chicken, eating standing at the counter, occasionally stopping to kiss some more. Then they had gone back to bed. Karen had never felt such exhaustion combined with such happiness. Frank’s bed smelled like him, Jeeves was purring, curled up at their feet, and she never wanted to leave it again.

“Morning,” Frank said, bringing her back to the present.

“Morning,” she replied, turning over to rest her head on his chest.

“Sleep well?”

“Mm-mm. This bed is comfy. I especially like the guy that comes with it. Awesome feature.”

Frank chuckled. “And to think you could have started enjoying it months ago if it hadn’t been for Billy borrowing it.” Then he turned a bit more serious “I can’t believe it took me that long to tell you about that… I’m such an idiot.”

“Well technically, you didn’t tell me at all. Curtis did!” she teased, getting up on her elbow to be able to look him in the eyes. “You know, even if you had told me earlier, I’m not so sure I would have been ready to hear it. When we met, I still had major trust issues, because of… you know...” she finished rather lamely, not wanting to waste any more breath on the subject of her and Matt. “So maybe there was a reason you didn’t feel you could tell me. Maybe you sensed that, on some level.”

“I think you’re givin’ me too much credit, Karen. But, I have to say, if anything was worth the wait, it was you.”

Karen felt her eyes fill with tears at that. She felt the same. This… this thing between them, it felt special. It felt huge. It felt like love. She leaned over to kiss him, and they were done talking for a while after that.

When they finally decided to leave the bed, Frank declared he was going to make his famous pancakes for her, which forced her to go to her apartment to grab some real maple syrup, tsk-ing at Frank’s artificially flavored stuff. Unwilling to put her dress back on, she just threw her coat over the T-shirt she had stolen from Frank when they had gotten up, and slipped into the thankfully empty hallway.

Once inside her place, she took a moment to fire a text to Trish and Jess: “Tree: climbed”.

Barely two minutes later, as she was about to head back to Frank’s place, she got answering texts from the both them. Trish’s said “Well Halle-fucking-luiah”, while Jessica’s was just a series of thumbs up and eggplant emojis, which had Karen laughing all the way back to Frank’s door.

 

Frank didn’t remember the last time he grinned so much for so long. His cheeks were seriously starting to ache. After their pancake breakfast, where he had been forced to admit that maybe Karen was right to be such a syrup snob, they had showered together, taking way too long and using up all the hot water because they couldn’t seem to keep their hands off one another. Then they had decided to go for a walk around the city for a bit, to soak up that Christmas spirit. They even made their way to the Rockefeller skating rink, and decided to go for a skate. It was Christmas Eve, it was romantic, to hell if it was cliché.

They had fun, holding hands, both of them adequate skaters, he from playing hockey when he was a kid, she from skating upon frozen lakes in Vermont growing up. Neither one of them was about to make figure eights, but they didn’t fall on their asses either.

He told her how he used to make a skating rink in the backyard for the kids when they were younger. She told him how she had never quite gotten the hang of skating backwards, while her baby brother had been a natural, which had pissed her off at the time. Her eyes got sad when she mentioned her brother, but Frank knew it wasn’t the time to push for more info just yet. She’d tell him more about her family in due time, when she was ready.

After that, they went for coffee. He took his dark roast, black as usual, but she ordered some chocolate mint concoction that had him wrinkling his nose.

“That’s not coffee. That’s blasphemy, is what it is,” he grumped.

“That’s your problem right there,” Karen replied, poking playfully at his chest. “You shouldn’t think of it as coffee, you need to think of it as a treat, as a dessert that happens to have some coffee in it."

Then she took a sip and made a blissed out expression that only served to make him want to take her back to his bed immediately.

He did have to admit that her silly drink tasted pretty good on her lips when he kissed her.

They bought groceries and some red wine, then headed to her place to cook dinner, as big fluffy snowflakes started to fall from the sky.

Their meal was simple, pasta, salad, garlic bread, ice cream for dessert. They savored it while talking about everything and nothing, Christmas music playing softly in the background. This was the best Christmas Eve Frank had had in years, well, since his marriage had started falling apart.

Close to midnight, Karen brought her bottle of whiskey out, and poured them both a glass. Then softly, she told him all her secrets, about her mom dying of cancer, her guilt over her brother’s death, her estrangement from her father.

He wiped the tears of her cheeks and held her close, amazed anyone who had ever known Karen Page could ever want to stay away from her. He told her of his own parents, of what an asshole teenager he had been, and how he wished they had lived long enough to see how well he had turned his life around. Long enough to meet their grandchildren.

Then he took her to bed, and they made love, nice and slow, a direct contrast to their frantic couplings of the last 24 hours, before falling asleep while watching the snow fall through the window that faced Karen’s bed, happy and at peace together.

 

Christmas morning was bittersweet for Karen. She and Frank woke up slowly, but had no time for much more than coffee together. Frank was heading to Maria’s for the day, the kids waiting for his arrival to open their presents.

He would only be back tonight after dinner, bringing Lisa and Frank Jr. along to stay with him for most of the remainder of the Christmas break.

“You should come over to breakfast tomorrow morning,” he said, gathering his clothes from her bedroom floor. “I’ll probably make pancakes again.”

“Pfft, you only want me for my maple syrup!” she pretend-huffed.

Frank suddenly got serious, sitting next to her at the foot of the bed and taking her hand.

“Are you going to be okay, alone today?”

Karen smiled. “Of course… besides, I won’t be alone for long, I’m having lunch with the Nelsons, and then Trish is hosting a dinner tonight for what she calls her Christmas Orphans, you know, people with no family, or no means to travel to see their family. Don’t you worry about me, just… have fun with the kids.”

Frank nodded. “Maybe… maybe next year, you can tag along?”

Karen’s heart started to beat really fast at that. Next year. He’d said next year. It should have been scary, just how quickly she had fallen for him, just how far he already pictured their relationship going. But it wasn’t. This man… He was hers. He was always meant to be hers. He was the one she had been waiting for all along. She felt it deep inside her bones.

She walked him to her door, then hugged him, whispering in his ear. “Next year, for sure.”

He kissed her sweetly, bidding her goodbye for the day.

“Merry Christmas, Ma’am.”

“Merry Christmas, Frank.”

 

The End

 


End file.
